Luke Spencer was a fixture on General Hospital for so many years that his loss is still felt by fans to this day. Originally hired for a limited run in 1978, Anthony Geary proved so popular that he remained with the soap for decades and so talented that he won a record-breaking eight Daytime Emmy Awards for his performances. The actor decided to retire from show business and moved to Amsterdam in 2015, so what happened to Luke? Heck, in over three decades, what didn’t happen to the guy on GH?
Luke joined his sister Bobbie Spencer in Port Charles in 1978 and went to work at the Campus Disco, which was a money laundering front for Frank Smith, a local mobster. Bobbie wanted her brother’s help in splitting up Laura Webber and Scotty Baldwin, but Luke fell for the blonde beauty himself and refused to do anything to hurt her. Laura began to have feelings for Luke as well, although she married Scotty. When she tried to comfort Luke one night at the disco while he was drinking away his troubles, things turned heated and he raped her.
Scott eventually found out about the assault and confronted Luke on a yacht while he was supposed to marry Frank Smith’s daughter, Jennifer. Thrown overboard, Luke was presumed dead, but he resurfaced and went on the run with Laura. After they managed to get Frank Smith sent to jail, they returned to Port Charles, but their relationship fell apart. However, after Laura tagged along with Luke and Robert as they tried to stop the Cassadines from using the Ice Princess diamond to freeze Port Charles, the two quickly fell madly in love all over again. Luke and Laura were married by the mayor in 1981 in a lavish ceremony, although Helena Cassadine cursed them because she blamed the duo for the death of her husband. Following the wedding, Luke and Laura left town.
Unfortunately, a year after their wedding, Laura disappeared, and Luke feared the worst. With the help of Jackie Templeton, he searched for his wife, but was led to believe that she was dead. Luke later became involved with con artist Holly Sutton, but when he was injured in an avalanche and learned that everyone believed him dead he decided to stay missing. However, he couldn’t stay away from Port Charles for long, and when he returned, he learned that Holly had married his best friend, Robert. Luke then was elected mayor of Port Charles and was stunned when Laura returned to him, having been held captive by Stavros Cassadine! Stavros followed her to Port Charles and died in a fight with Luke. Reunited, Luke and Laura resumed their life on the run hiding from Frank Smith.
Luke and Laura made an epic return to Port Charles with their young son, Lucky Spencer, running from Frank Smith’s mob in the ’90s. Luke fathered another child with Laura soon after, their daughter, Lulu. Sonny killed Frank Smith and took over his territory, and Luke befriended the mobster. Luke was startled to learn that Laura had a son, Nikolas, by Stefan Cassadine, and also that Carly Roberts was really Carly Benson, the daughter that Bobbie had given up as a teenager! Luke and Laura’s marriage faltered when Lucky learned that his father had raped his mother, and after Lucky was presumed dead in a fire, they divorced.
In 2000, Luke and Laura learned that Lucky was still alive and they rekindled their relationship as they joined forces to rescue him from Helena. But the reunion didn’t last long and Luke had a fling with Felicia Jones. Laura went back to Scott, but when she declined his marriage proposal, Luke stepped back in and wooed her. Unfortunately, while they planned to remarry, Laura began to remember murdering her stepfather, Rick, and the trauma landed her in a mental hospital with a breakdown.
Luke ended up marrying Tracy Quartermaine in 2005 on a drunken night in Vegas, but he had to keep their marriage secret when Laura came out of her catatonic state temporarily. Later, after Laura woke up and moved to France, Luke returned to Tracy once more. He then learned that the young man who had tried to rob him, Ethan Lovett, was his son with Holly. Unfortunately, Luke’s life took a tragic turn when it was revealed that he was the drunk driver who had hit and killed Jake, and his family staged an intervention for the alcoholic.
Luke kicked the habit, but when his health began to decline, his loved ones feared he was back on the sauce. But it turned out he had actually been poisoned by Helena, and with Tracy’s help, got the antidote from the Cassadines. But Luke soon began acting erratically, acting as a Mob boss to Julian Jerome and attempting to blow up the Haunted Star while it was full of people. Although many thought that “Fluke” was an imposter, it was eventually revealed that it was actually Luke, who had suffered a psychotic break. After recalling how as a child he had accidentally caused his mother’s death and then angrily killed his abusive father, Luke broke down and entered a mental facility for treatment.
After being released from the hospital, Luke reunited with Laura on one last adventure to save their son, Lucky, as well as Ethan. They had a final confrontation with Frank Smith, and then discovered that Luke hadn’t killed Jake in the hit and run — the boy was alive and being held captive by Helena on Cassadine Island! Luke tried to reconcile with Tracy, but she rejected him. After considering taking his own life, Luke decided it would just be better to leave Port Charles forever. Although he did make a brief on-screen appearance a couple of years later when Tracy also decided to leave town and ran into him at a coffee shop.
While Tracy has returned to Port Charles for the occasional visit, Luke has never accompanied her (due to Geary’s actual retirement). She’s offered updates on what they’ve been up to, and just after midnight on New Year’s 2022, Tracy appeared at Laura’s door to tell her that Luke was… gone! She explained that there had been a cable car crash in Austria, and that his remains had been identified and his possessions returned to her. And when Laura broke the news to Bobbie, she insisted it was no accident but that Luke had been murdered! Anna and Felicia later discovered evidence linking Victor to Luke’s death.
Luke is still fondly remembered by those who knew him in Port Charles, and on his birthday in 2024, Tracy shared some fond memories of her late husband with Ned and Sonny.
The iconic Luke Spencer may be gone, but he’ll never be forgotten!
